Title:
Does there need to be a wall on the border between the United States and
Mexico?
Author:
Michael Terwilliger
Course/Level:
American Government Grade 10
Materials:
-computer to watch videos
-post-it-notes
-copies of documents with questions
-
-Presidential Nominee Rick Perry speech at an El Paso, Texas town meeting (2012)
Presidential Nominees Mitt Romney speech to public at Reagan Library in Simi
Valley, California (Sept. 7, 2011)
-ACLU Press Release Regarding Border Patrol (2013)
-“thrash-it-out” question sheet
HCPSS Curriculum Connections:
This activity will be completed during the 4 th quarter unit on Public Policy
Learning Outcomes: Students will:
-identify the positives and negatives associated with building a wall on the
US/Mexican border
-evaluate whether or not bias is prevalent the documents provided
- formulate evidence based opinions that support or refute the building of a wall on the Mexican border
Historical Thinking Skills Assessed:
-Close Reading —Students will be looking for both pros and cons of building a border as well as author bias.
Background:
The border debate has been entrenched in political debate for at least a century. In recent memory, it has been one of the most debated issues on the political agenda. The creation of the US Border Patrol in 1924 was the first attempt at a national level to deal with drug trafficking and illegal immigration into the United States. The creation of the
Border Patrol was tied to passage of the Immigration Act of 1924 (Asian Exclusion Act) which restricted admission of immigrants from countries to 2% of their 1890 immigration numbers. The act in actuality, heavily benefited western Europeans and heavily restricted eastern Europeans/Asians. There was no mention of Mexican immigration in the Immigration Act of 1924, instead focusing the brunt of the immigration restriction offensive on Asians and Eastern Europeans. As a result, Mexico was left essentially unaffected. The creation of the Border Patrol was thus created as the strong arm of the
Immigration Act of 1924. It’s purpose: to enforce laws and regulations for the admission of foreign-born persons into the United States.
When the United States intervened in World War I, Mexican laborers immigrated in to the United States to work the farms that desperately needed laborers to fulfill food quotas for the military. John Steinbeck’s book “The Grapes of Wrath” discusses the impact of the Depression on American farmers in mid-west shortly after WWI. Some of whom moved west and clashed with these Mexican laborers.
The Bracero Act of 1942 served a similar purpose for America. Under the

provisions of the Act, Mexicans were recruited (some 4.6 million) to work temporarily as agrarian laborers. The influx of laborers continued after WWII ended and attempts to restrict Mexican immigration through Immigration Act in 1965, 76, 78 and 80 failed. The number of legal immigrants actually rose from 38,000 in 1964 to 67,000 in 1986.
Undocumented immigration rose from 87,000 to 3.8 million per year between those same times.
After 9/11, the Border Patrol has also taken on the task of preventing terrorists and terrorists weapons into the United States. In 2005, Congressman Duncan Hunter (R-CA) introduced to the House of Representatives the Border Protection, Antiterrorism, and
Illegal Alien Control Act of 2005, which mandated the construction of hundreds of miles of fencing along the southern U.S. border. The bill passed in the House but failed in the
Senate. Less than 10 months later, President George W. Bush signed the Secure Fence
Act of 2006. It planned to build 700 miles of double-reinforced security fencing in areas along the border of Mexico that are prone to drug trafficking and illegal immigration as well as the installation of surveillance cameras. The Secure Fence Act was signed in
January of 2006 and by May 15 th , 2006, President Bush deployed 6,000 National
Guardsmen to the Mexico border to assist with border control, this was called “Operation
Jump Start.” The total cost, $7 billion.
As the debate continues to rage on in recent years, the effects are being felt by persons both in and outside of the United States.
Context Setting -- The Hook
5 min
Supplies
-computer
-post-it notes
-chalkboard labeled for and against building a wall on the Mexican border
-have students put their name on the post it note and place it on the board in one of two areas: for building a wall on the Mexican border and against building a wall on the Mexican border
-discuss basis for student decisions
-hand out Secure Fence Act Sheet and discuss main idea/theme
Document Analysis
-20 minutes
-Give students documents 1, 2, 3 and 4
-Allow students 10-15 minutes to read the documents and answering the questions provided
-Conduct a “thrash-it-out” using the “thrash-it-out” question sheet provide
-Ask students if they would like to change their post-it-note opinion from the beginning of class
-Conduct “thrash” it out”
SECURE FENCE ACT OF 2006

AT THE SECOND SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday, the third day of January, two thousand and six
An Act
To establish operational control over the international land and maritime borders of the United States.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Secure Fence Act of 2006’’.
SEC. 2. ACHIEVING OPERATIONAL CONTROL ON THE BORDER.
(a) I N G ENERAL .—Not later than 18 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of
Homeland Security shall take all actions the Secretary determines necessary and appro- priate to achieve and maintain operational control over the entire international land and maritime borders of the United
States, to include the following—
(1) systematic surveillance of the international land and maritime borders of the United States through more effective use of personnel and technology, such as unmanned aerial vehicles, ground-based sensors, satellites, radar coverage, and cameras; and
(2) physical infrastructure enhancements to prevent unlaw- ful entry by aliens into the United States and facilitate access to the international land and maritime borders by United States Customs and Border
Protection, such as additional checkpoints, all weather access roads, and vehicle barriers.
-Secure Fence Act (signed into being by Vice
President Dick Cheany and Presidents of the
Senate Harry Reid and
Mitch McConnell)
Document 1
Presidential Nominee Rick Perry speech at an El Paso, Texas town meeting (2012)

“The idea that you’re going to build a wall from Brownsville to El Paso — 1200 miles — is a bit ludicrous to me..”
-Texas Governer/2012 Presidential Nominee Rick Perry
Click on the video link below: http://www.theblaze.com/blog/2011/09/07/flashback-rick-perry-says-idea-of-borderfence-is-nonsense/
1. Is this a Primary or secondary source? How do you know?
2. What is the claim the video is making about border patrol?
3. How does the person in the video support that claim?
4. What feelings did the director try to invoke in the listener?
5. How can this source be used to answer the focus question?
Document 2
Presidential Nominees Mitt Romney speech to public at Reagan Library in Simi Valley,

California (Sept. 7, 2011)
Well, first, we ought to have a fence. Secondly...T
he whole fence should be 2,600 miles…
Romney: Yes. We got to -- we got to have a fence, or the technologically approved system to make sure that we know who's coming into the country, number one. Number two, we ought to have enough agents to secure that fence and to make sure that people are coming over are caught…
If we want to secure the border, we have to make sure we have a fence, technologically, determining where people are, enough agents to oversee it, and turn off that magnet. We can't talk about amnesty, we cannot give amnesty to those who have come here illegally.”
--Mitt Romney, former Governor of Massachusetts, stated the following during the
Republican presidential debate held at the Reagan Library in Simi Valley, CA on Sep. 7, 2011,
Source: NYTimes.com http://2012election.procon.org/view.answers.election.php?questionID=172
-
1. Is this a Primary or secondary source? How do you know?
2. What is the claim the video is making about border patrol?
3. How does the person in the video support that claim?
4.
What feelings did the author try to invoke in the reader?
5. How can this source be used to answer the focus question?
Document 3

ACLU Releases List of Border-Related Amendments It Supports
June 20, 2013
WASHINGTON — According to news reports, Sens. Corker (R-Tenn.) and
Hoeven (R-N.D.) plan to file an amendment today to the immigration reform bill that would place an additional 20,000 border patrol agents along the U.S.-Mexico border, require construction of 700 miles of additional border fencing, and provide money for aerial drones.
"This plan would double the number of border patrol agents to 40,000 and appears to more than triple spending on border enforcement activities at a time when unauthorized entry is at near-historic lows," said Joanne Lin, American Civil
Liberties Union legislative counsel. "This is unnecessary because the underlying legislation already includes $6 billion more for border enforcement activities, which the Congressional Budget Office estimates would reduce unauthorized entry significantly. Furthermore, Border Patrol has demonstrated itself to be an agency that abuses its power and lacks independent oversight. This massive deployment of force would be simply devastating for border communities."
1. Is this a Primary or secondary source? How do you know?
2. What is the claim the video is making about border patrol?
3. How does the person in the video support that claim?
4.
What feelings did the author try to invoke in the reader?
5. How can this source be used to answer the focus question?
Corroborating Evidence and Constructing Interpretations -- Close Analysis
5 minutes

--Students will then have “thrash-it-out” with another student in the room who is of the opposite opinion of theirs. (if the numbers are not balanced there can be 2-3 students with one perspective having a “thrash-it-out” with 1 student.
-students will answer the following question based on the “thrash-it-out” with their partner(s)
THRASH IT OUT SHEET
In a group/with a partner, answer the following questions:
1. Did everyone in the group come to the same conclusion about the documents they read?
2. Answer the focus questions by stating your claim (thesis statement) here:
Thoughtful Application
- ask if students would like to switch their position regarding building a wall on the border of Mexico
-give students the “in a nutshell” pros and cons of building a wall on the Mexican border

-decide whether or not you think a physical border on the Mexican border is the best idea
-give each student 15-30 seconds to:
1. Present their thesis
2. Propose their argument (which utilizes information from the documents)
3. Take a bow
Some possible arguments are below:
Pros
1.
With a skyrocketing national debt and annual deficits, the country can't sustain the drag on our economy and the entitlement cost increases that follow illegal immigration.
2.
We are a nation of laws; we can't choose which laws to enforce and which ones to ignore.
3.
Amnesty and other proposed fixes to the current illegal immigration problem can't even be considered until the border fence is in place, since a change in laws for a scheduled date could trigger a massive inflow of illegals like no other in history.
4.
A country that built a transcontinental railroad and put a man on the moon shouldn't have a problem building a simple fence, especially with billions of dollars of government
"stimulus" funds available.
5.
It would cut off vehicle transport of illegals, forcing those who want to enter the country to pursue legal channels or cover potentially hundreds of miles on foot and overcome other difficult obstacles.
6.
It would create thousands of construction jobs while the fence is being built.
7.
In addition to discouraging or stopping much of illegal immigration, it would increase the number of apprehensions of illegal immigrants.
8.
It would help contain the illegal drug trade pouring into the country from Mexico and help keep the bloody drug wars outside the United
States.
The wall would provide additional protection from terrorist entry into the country.
Cons
1.
The materials and labor cost necessary to build the border fence are something we can't afford right now.
2.
It damages the international view of the
U.S., giving a propaganda weapon to our enemies, who may compare the fence to the Berlin Wall.
3.
A fence covering that long of a border will take a very long time to build and may not be very effective.
4.
The fence would disrupt the environment and wild life, as it may potentially cross rivers, sanctuaries, preservations, parks
5.
The costs and risks to humans crossing the border, including elderly and children, will dramatically increase.
6.
It might strain relations between Mexico and the United States.
7.
Because of the increased costs and risks of crossing, illegal immigrants that previously pursued seasonal work and then returned home may have to bring their families and live permanently in the country.
Homework
-Students will then create 2 body paragraphs using the “in-a-nut-shell” pros and cons sheet

-the body paragraphs will have no more than 4 sentences each
Next day
-Anticipatory Set: Students write a 2-3 sentence conclusion using the thesis and two body paragraphs created
Bibliography
1.
http://www.wcl.american.edu/hrbrief/14/3tavares.pdf
2.
http://www.umass.edu/complit/aclanet/USMigrat.html
3.
http://www.pbs.org/kpbs/theborder/history/interactive-timeline.html
4.
http://www.journalofamericanhistory.org/projects/mexico/jdurand.html
5.
http://www.aclu.org/immigrants-rights/problematic-senate-border-planworks
6.
http://2012election.procon.org/view.answers.election.php?questionID=172
7.
http://www.theblaze.com/blog/2011/09/07/flashback-rick-perry-says-idea-ofborder-fence-is-nonsense/